"The international community failed to stop Rwanda’s genocide and promised not to let it happen again. Has the world forgotten so quickly?"
-Editorial, NYTimes
The East of Congo teeters on the brink of the next, great, African war. The same fertile lands were already the stage for the last, great, African war, where up to 5 million are thought to have perished, forgotten by the Western world, left to the cruel fate of the developing world; of death without a voice.
And once again, it is the mineral riches under those fertile lands that are attracting the attention of the region's unscrupulous legions; soldiers from Zimbabwe, Angola, and Rwanda are already thought to be on the ground in the region, fighting alongside the numerous militias and the undisciplined, pillaging, and corrupt Congolese National Army. And it all boils down to a simple equation: who controls the land controls what lies beneath the land; and who controls the land is the one with the biggest guns, and the least respect for human rights. This is an equation that has played out to devastating consequence throughout the continent, and throughout the world, for the entire twisted, turning length and breadth of human history. And now it plays out, in real time, in front of our eyes, daring us to avert our attention, once again; daring us to allow unconscionable acts to occur, once again; daring us to test the advancement of our culture, of our civilization, once again.
from the BBC:
International efforts to bring peace to the region are increasingly focussed on the way that factions in the region have been using its mineral wealth to buy arms.
The war has become a private racket with minerals providing the motive for carrying on fighting
The untapped wealth of the forested landscape is worth billions of dollars but only a tiny fraction of that reaches the pockets of ordinary citizens.
The recent battles in the eastern Kivu region partly stem from the same Hutu-Tutsi rivalry which prompted the Rwandan genocide of the 1990s but crucially, the fighting is financed by Kivu's buried treasure.
Many people complain that the natural riches of the region are the main cause of their misery.
